Menopause can be a trying time for some women, with the vast majority experiencing some degree of hot flashes and temperature instability. For many women, hot flashes start during the pre-menopausal period, several years before the cessation of menstrual periods take place. After the menstrual periods stop, more than three quarters of women continue to experience some degree of temperature instability that lasts up to a full year after menopause.

Even more disturbing is the fact that up to half of all women continue to experience hot flashes well past the menopausal stage which can be a source of great frustration and discomfort. Why do some women continue to have postmenopausal hot flashes while others appear to have resolution of their temperature instability? A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine looked at why some women continue to have post-menopausal hot flashes. After administering questionnaires to over 3,000 women questioning them about the severity of their hot flashes, they found that women who reported persistent post-menopausal hot flashes were more likely to have used estrogen in the past; they have had elevated LDL cholesterol levels, have a history of hysterectomy in the past and were more likely to be overweight with symptoms of vaginal dryness and sleep problems. Although this study does shed some light as to which groups of women are most likely to develop post-menopausal hot flashes and points out how frequent these symptoms are, it doesn’t suggest an established cause or treatment. (more…)